Violin virtuosa: Nicola Benedetti is a magnificent maestra that brings classical chamber pieces well and truly into the modern music scene
I had assumed a legendary jazz venue would be an incongruous fit for a tiny classical chamber orchestra. How wrong I was. Camden’s famous Jazz Café proved to be the perfect fit for GRAMMY award winning violinist Nicola Benedetti.
The small square space is intimate, with spotlights alternating between pale blue moonlight and the warm hot summer hues of orange and red. There’s a smoky haze in the air and the atmosphere is thick with a silent reverie; a shared agreement between the entire audience that we are there to witness something magical. And it happens.
Scottish maestra Benedetti, classically trained since childhood, was flanked by her pint-sized chamber orchestra consisting of a cellist, an acoustic guitarist and an accordionist. The set list was incredibly thoughtful and meandering in a beautiful way. Starting with Estrellita, a heartbreakingly tender piece about loss, it felt like we were in a basement bar during WW2, pining for something that was never meant to be. Followed by Maria Theresia Von Paradis’ Sicilienne, this is a piece reminiscent of bittersweet otherworldliness; Benedetti plays so beautifully that she makes the abstract relatable.
Moving on to even more passion and emoción, we turn to Fantasy on the themes of Carmen, by Bizet. The night is well and truly in a Mediterranean fervour. The atmosphere is just so cool. Instead of some staid hall with uncomfy chairs, shifting with distraction and lack of alcohol, we were in the coolest jazz spot in town; a sold out show with flowing cocktails and a diverse audience. A standing room only below the supper club upstairs forces us to remain engaged, losing ourselves in the moment like any other gig round the corner in Camden Town.
The use of acoustic guitar and an accordion only added to the Latin flair of the proceedings, punctuated perfectly by the addition of two inspired guest appearances. Brìghde Chaimbeul, a young musician whose haunting performance on the Scottish smallpipes left everyone, to use Benedetti’s own words, “in a trance”. They played a gloomy Gaelic duet at first, with enough melancholia to summon over all the goths from Underworld across the road. Chaimbeul’s talent for aural evocation is astounding; the complexity of the instrumental drones as she manipulates the bellows is fantastic. Her second piece, a rhythmic ethereal dirge transported the audience to a forgotten Celtic realm. I felt like I was the only one there, it was like a fever dream.
The second performer, saved for the crescendo finale otherwise interposed by Claude Debussy and Ernest Bloch arrangements, was Yume Fujise. A London based Japanese violinist, she and Benedetti performed the rousing duet, Navarra by Sarasate. Both played with such joy and abandon you forgot how precise and technical the piece really was. It was the perfect conclusion to an already heady mix of Hispanic vibes and meticulous melancholia.
Nicola Benedetti is astonishing. Her aural evocation is displayed through skilful strokes and playful pizzicato. It is so refreshing to see young musicians bring new audiences to such classic pieces, known and unknown in a fun yet provoking way. There was nothing stuffy about this show, everything from the relaxed arrangement of the chamber orchestra, each stellar in their own right, to the intimate crowd spellbound by such a powerhouse performance.
It’s Nicola Benedetti’s world and we’re all just living in it.